Category: Tangerine Summer Skies

The month of August 2016 is almost at the end, on its final week Wednesday, on the 31st, the last day of the month. This summer has gone faster than the others in the past—time flies when all the festivals go to town for music concerts in the park.

By the time June 2016 came around, a wonderful Spring was still in the air in the Edgewater neighborhood. The sun was bright and shiny for nature’s bounty in the gardens, the fields, and everywhere the Farmer’s Markets were ready for the summer harvest and the festivals to come around with music fans, rock ‘n roll bands, libations, and summer frolic for young and old, children and adults; while the young people went all the way to town for Lollapalooza.

Walking around on Broadway I found to my surprise that many drivers in a hurry to turn around, all make an ubiquitous “U” turn at the corner of Elmdale and Glenlake St., non-stop. The “U” Turn is the fastest turnaround in town for Edgewater drivers on Broadway.

Late night crawlers on Broadway also try to feed “chocolate” donuts and cookies to local commuters waiting for the CTA Route 36 Bus on Broadway to Devon.

If you are lucky, CTA commuters can get Popeye Spicy Chicken, Rice and Beans, a Southern biscuit, an Apple Pie, and a Frosted Lemon Curd Pastry from Dunkin’ Donuts, courtesy of Carol and her boyfriend who are kind-hearted and good Christian Samaritans.

If you miss the CTA Route 36 bus after midnight which only runs until 1:30A.M., be prepared for surprises from bicycle commuters on Broadway who stop to ask you, “Are You All Right?” and offer some fare money, if you are stranded for bus fare.

Sometimes, there are out-of-town strangers who are looking for a CTA bus which never arrives after 2:00A.M. So, they ask local commuters, “What Are You Doing Here?” The answer is plain and simple, “After 2:00A.M. there is no CTA Route 36 Bus, Until 4:30A.M.”

Then, there are the lost pedestrians who are wandering around Edgewater, walking on Broadway late, late after midnight…trying to get somewhere in the twilight zone. There was a young college athlete who was walking around only with a T-Shirt and a pair of shorts…looking for a cigarette lighter in the middle of the night where no one smokes…

Also, there is the young Mother of a child in a stroller rolling down on Broadway after 10PM, trying to get into the Whole Foods Market store when it is already closed. The baby is sleeping in the stroller and the Mother does not have her mobile digital phone because it is discharged and needs to plug-in. The Chicago Public Library is a good place to recharge the mobile digital telephone on the wall electrical outlet. Then she called the Uber man to take her and the baby on the stroller away on Broadway.

The worst cases happen when the thunderstorms start rumbling with flash lightning. Some pedestrians walk around soaking wet under the rain and the flooding alleys across Broadway.

Sometimes, the Good Samaritans appear suddenly after midnight, as if they are dream-walking, in and out, asking a question, or offering some kind of help, food, or water on Broadway.